Okay, thanks to Andrea and Renfield, I feel like I'm not so out of the loop.
Just to be sure I've got the right breakdown of services, let me just
reorganize everything into a tidy little graph (which I figure could be of
use to others anyways):
Mobile Phone Co. Internet Service Format
DoCoMo I-Mode cHTML
J-Phone J-Skyweb MML
Tuka, IDO, DDI e-z web, e-z access WAP
Now, as I understand it, each offers content within their own Intranet. And,
at least I-Mode offers a gateway out to the rest of the Internet as well.
Further questions:
Does anyone have any figures on how many customers each has? I thought I saw
7 million or more for I-mode, 2.2 million for J-Skyweb, and I have no idea
for E-Z Web.
Are IDO, Tuka, and DDI linked by any sort of business alliance, or are they
just linked for Internet services? If you put a site on one, would you be
able to view it on the others as well?
And, last but not least, Renfield said that the J-Skynet model was a "poorly
developed transaction settlement system" compared to I-mode. What is it
lacking? Can they offer billing for subscribed sites with their regular
monthly phone bill as I-mode can?
Dave